Clarke makes himself at home

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Final flourish: Australian batsman Michael Clarke celebrates his century, and Australia's victory, with Ricky Ponting at the SCG last night.Photo: Steve Christo

The SCG faithful will remember last night's match for Michael
Clarke's second one-day international century. The Pakistanis will
remember the crushing, nine-wicket loss to Australia as a truly
horrendous end to a truly horrendous week; one which included a
"chucking" charge, a tour-ending injury and a rape allegation
against an unidentified player.

Clarke's unbeaten innings of 103, which raised his average as a
one-day international opener to 123.67, sealed Australia's place in
the finals. And if the Pakistanis needed further proof the
cricketing gods had conspired against them, it came when Clarke was
dropped by Mohammad Hafeez on 97 and, moments earlier, was
seemingly caught by Shoaib Malik, only to be ruled not out.

His otherwise spectacular innings guided Australia past
Pakistan's 163 in just 36.2 overs - out-of-sorts left-hander
Matthew Hayden (27 off 65) the only wicket to fall, raising
questions as to whether Clarke deserves the opener's role more
regularly.

"When [Adam Gilchrist] comes back I'll be back down the order
and rightly so," said Clarke, playing down the issue. "One day, if
I do get the opportunity to bat up the order that would be
fantastic."

Usually, paceman Shoaib Akhtar would have been summoned to shake
Clarke and, later, Ricky Ponting (17 not out) out of cruise-control
mode. But despite his surprise participation in Pakistan's spirited
pre-match warm-up session, Akhtar is returning home in the next few
days, after suffering a slight hamstring tear against the West
Indies last Wednesday.

Add the derailment of the "Rawalpindi Express" to Hafeez's
chucking charge, the much-publicised rape allegation against a
Pakistan player and last night's loss and it's no wonder
Inzamam-ul-Haq is reportedly considering abandoning the
captaincy.

"There are a lot of people talking in Pakistan that I'm not
captain, but I'm not worried about that," Inzamam said. "I will
concentrate on this series. After that we'll see what's
happening."

Akhtar's absence was sorely felt by the Pakistanis in the field,
although, truth be told, their fate was sealed at the coin toss.
After Ponting elected to bowl on an overcast afternoon and damp
pitch, his pace quartet of Glenn McGrath (2-18), Brett Lee (2-54),
Michael Kasprowicz (1-17) and Shane Watson (1-26) were always
expected to trouble the Pakistan batsmen when play commenced 45
minutes late because of rain.

But few could have predicted the extent of the carnage -
Pakistan hobbled at 5-68 due largely to the accuracy and movement
of McGrath and Lee.

McGrath created havoc among the Pakistan top order, trapping
Salman Butt lbw without scoring and bowling Shoaib Malik between
bat-and-pad for eight. At the other end, Lee penetrated the
defences of Kamran Akmal (2), just days after the opener's maiden
one-day international century, while regularly pushing 150km/h on
the speed gun.

Only Inzamam provided any early resistance. After top-edging a
Lee thunderbolt over the fine leg boundary, the besieged skipper
batted with composure as wickets tumbled around him in trying
conditions.

The introduction of Darren Lehmann's part-time spin eventually
led to Inzamam's demise, though not before the Pakistan skipper had
raised a fighting half-century. His slow, dreary trudge from the
playing surface left few of the 30,942 SCG patrons unaware of the
frustration and disappointment that has defined Pakistan's tour so
far.

His innings aside, only a late flourish from hard-hitting
all-rounder Shahid Afridi (48 from 37 balls) buoyed the battered
spirits of the Pakistani fans.

Clarke began Australia's run chase energetically, though Hayden
appeared uneasy. Perhaps due to his form troubles, though more
likely on account of Clarke's home-town appeal, sections of the SCG
crowd heckled Hayden when on strike, imploring him to allow his
rookie opening partner more time at Pakistan's shell-shocked
bowlers.

"That is disappointing when you're trying your absolute best and
you're copping it from your home crowd," Ponting said. "If we'd
been chasing a bigger total tonight, you would have seen him play
differently."

A rash stroke off the bowling of Abdul Razzaq eventually ended
Hayden's innings. By then, however, Clarke was well within sight of
his second one-day international century, both scored as an
opener.